Sharing the Good News with London
A big thank you to everyone who prayed for, supported, and participated in our Summer School of Jewish Evangelism, which took place in London in September. After an initial week’s training in Jewish evangelism by current and retired missionaries and staff, a week of practical evangelism followed, on the streets and door-to-door. Jewish people responded positively as our team went out with the gospel.
Not ‘converting’ Moses
London missionary Ida Tam met Moses while handing out gospel leaflets with the Summer School team in Golders Green, a very Jewish part of London. The 81-year-old was friendly but emphasised that, although Jewish, he was not religious, as Ida reports.
Moses believed religion is the cause of all wars, so I explained the team was there to let people know about true peace through Jesus. When I asked Moses what he knew about Jesus, he told me that Jesus was Jewish.
I shared the gospel with Moses, but he was quick to tell me he didn’t sin and only did good deeds.
I asked whether his good deeds gave him the confidence to stand before God. After staying silent for a moment, Moses asked, ‘Are you trying to convert me?’
I explained I wasn’t there to ‘convert’ him. I told him, ‘It’s simply about you returning to God because he loves you.’
Moses smiled without saying a word. Before he left, we exchanged contact details so our gospel conversation can continue.
As Ida follows up with Moses, please pray he will see that he is a sinner in need of the Saviour, and will turn to Jesus in repentance and faith.
Hope to see you in heaven
An unexpected warm welcome.
As Summer School was nearing its end, Netherlands-based missionary Asaf Pelled received a call from his friend Oleg, a Ukrainian reaching out to Jewish people in London. He’d just had an interesting encounter with an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man named Yosef and needed help, as Asaf reports.
Language barriers prevented the conversation between Oleg and Yosef from going very far, so I suggested joining him for a visit, as I am fluent in both Hebrew and English.
From the moment we arrived at Yosef’s home, he was warm and welcoming. As we waited for him to bring out refreshments, I noticed his cupboards were packed full of books, ranging from the Talmud to the Mishnah to other rabbinical commentaries. We found out that Yosef had studied in two of the most prestigious yeshivas (rabbinical schools) in the world and had strong biblical knowledge.
We discussed some of the books in his library and Yosef was surprised that I knew of them. This gave me the chance to share my testimony, explaining how, as a teenager, I went on a long spiritual search. Eventually, I found the answers I was looking for in the New Testament and in Jesus. As a Jewish believer, I started to familiarise myself with Judaism and rabbinic literature, as my desire was to interact with Jewish people who follow such teachings.
As our conversation went on, I asked Yosef how it was that he, a religious Jewish man, was so welcoming and happy to interact with us in such a friendly way.
‘Well, I appreciate good people,’ was his short answer, before adding, ‘We can be kind to one another, God made all of us.’
We spoke about our different beliefs about Jesus. Yosef stated that Jesus was mentioned in the Talmud as a scholar who had gone astray. He told us he had many books which disprove the claims of the New Testament.
Yosef was surprised that I was familiar with some of these books and suggested I read a rabbinic book that refutes Christianity. I suggested borrowing it to study - with the provision that we could discuss it together once I had read it. Yosef agreed to this but insisted on letting me have the book as a gift.
Before we parted, Yosef mentioned he had read the New Testament, recalling Jesus’ words from John 7: ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.’ I explained the context of that statement, highlighting its significance during the water-drawing ceremony of the Feast of Tabernacles.
As we said a friendly farewell, I prayed God would stir a thirst in Yosef’s heart that only Jesus could quench.
Give thanks for the Summer School team and please pray for all the Jewish people they spoke with and who received gospel literature. Pray particularly for the follow-up work, now ongoing with those like Yosef, Moses and Eddie, who gave contact details so the conversations about Jesus can continue.
